It is always such a challenge to review a Bryson book. It is so hard to fit the grandeur of his wit, the wandering travels of his splendid anecdotes, and all of those rich facts and insights that Bryson is so renowned for into something other than a book. Never before has this been t!he case more than with his latest work: At Home. 

The premise of At Home is, as Bryson himself put it, that most of history is no more than “masses of people doing ordinary things.” At Home builds upon his previous work A Short History Of Nearly Everything, but zooming in from the outlandish realm of science, to a very familiar place: our homes. Bryson takes us on a wandering journey from the kitchen to the bedroom to the bathroom and so on, of his old english parsonage where “nothing of any great significance has happened since the Romans decamped.” Much to Bryson's wont, and to my pleasure, the lively conversations of the book ramble off in thousands of different, and often pleasantly unexpected directions. Who would ever think that a discussion of an English parsonage could span the building of the Erie Canal and the Eiffel Tower, and the “great stink” of London. These are not topics of a “history” book, but those of a great dinner conversation. And that is the genius of the book: to use his parsonage as a home base, not the topic. A place to s!park the conversations, then to fall back to when the going gets tough. 

I previously read a negative review labeling Bryson’s books as “an emotional collection of facts.” Well, I can say with confidence, that this analysis could be no closer to the truth. At Home is a vast collection of incredibly fascinating facts, and hilarious anecdotes. Bryson’s books are comparable to a disassembled encyclopedia enriched with the ingredients that make an excellent book. If you like to get a truck load of facts along with the surprising people and events behind them, then I wish you luck finding a book that does it better than At Home. It is o!ne of those books that you crave to read over just to remember a little more of it.

Bryson’s expertly chosen setting of a house and everything in it enables him to engage in historical and scientific jargon without loosing the reader. It provides a forum to compare such seemingly esoteric concepts such as Victorian England, sewage systems, and rich people, but not loose us to confusion; for all we have to do is unbury our noses from his words and venture into the room being discussed. There, you can see the words in action. You can understand your cutlery (forks have 4 prongs for safety reasons), your spices (herbs come from the leafy areas of a plant and spices come from the non-leafy parts), and your wardrobe better than ever before. This uncanny ability of Bryson to lay out his information in ways for everybody to grasp is truly one of his virtues. If any other Joe-blow author attempted what Bryson has succeeded a!t, I’d bet it would actually end up being more of an encyclopedia. 

Not only does Bryson fill you with facts, but he also fills you with wonder and mystery about the ostensibly most mundane things we know exist. After reading any Bill Bryson book, you do in fact see the world differently. You find yourself being immensely obsessed by the smallest things. Why is Santa fat? Who coined the term “duffel bag?” Why do I have earlobes? Who possibly invented the paperclip? He makes things like our houses to be one of the most exciting places on the planet. After reading at home, every nook and cranny holds something that has a story to tell. Bryson even fills daily words with wonder, making it a book for the English Language geek who has a fancy for the rich culture behind words. Did you know the word “enthrall” has its roots in the old norse word “thrall,” meaning a slave or serf. So when you a!re enthralled, you are enslaved by emotion.

Another virtue of At Home is that it forces the reader to reflect on where the lives we know today came from. We have to be incredibly thankful for many nearly unknown people and objects. We have to be thankful for the giant asteroid that impacted Earth and allowed mammals to grow out of their evolutionary niche to become us. We have to be thankful for the few victorian doctors who decided to start washing their hands before operations, and the list goes on. The moral of all this, as far as I can tell, is that we need to think again about those things we take for granted. And that is definitely something today’s generation needs some practice on.!

At Home is easy and enjoyable to read, addicting, and has the ability to make you seem smart in all circumstances. However, what Bryson tries to teach us through his writings, is that, if you open your eyes wide enough, then the world holds many, many unexpected things; and you don't even have to leave the comfort of your own home.